


Dating can be Hard, but it Doesn't Have to Be

by musicfeind2392



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Dating, Dinner, First Time Dating, M/M, Schmoop, talk about "After dinner talk"
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-17
Updated: 2017-02-17
Packaged: 2018-09-25 05:40:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9804878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musicfeind2392/pseuds/musicfeind2392
Summary: I found this drabble while I was cleaning out my computer.  After I read it and decided that it wasn't terrible, I thought I should post it before I actually thought about it.  Enjoy!





	

**Author's Note:**

> For the Prompt: "Imagine Jim and Bones on their first sate and they are both insanely nervous about it. It's Bones' first date since the divorce and Jim's first date, well, ever. About 45 minutes into the date, Bones finally has eniugh and says, 'Why the hell are we actin' like this? You're still my best friend, just with the added perk of gettin' you naked later.' They both relax, forget about the 'date' atmosphere and are finally able to concentrate on each other."
> 
> If this is your prompt, let me know! I'd love to give you a shout out!

Leonard is picking at the cuticle of the thumb of his left hand. Normally, Leonard is good to his hands. He needs his hands, they save people’s lives, and there should be no reason for him to be actively destroying them. But here he is, standing in front of Jim’s door, nervous, and picking at his cuticles like he hasn’t in twenty years because he’s going on a date in close to two years. He’s wearing a button down shirt that he was told by one of the nurses that he works with brings out his eyes, and a pair of dark wash blue jeans that feel comfortable and broken in. He feels utterly unsure of what he’s doing and sighs as he mentally shakes himself.

He rings the bell before he can convince himself not to. That was the whole problem, though, wasn’t it? That this was Jim, and Jim was...standing in the doorway. He’s wearing a gray sweater, that somehow makes his eyes look electric blue and a pair of black pants that hug his narrow hips, cling to his thighs and slouch down his calves and brush the floor. Leonard let’s his eyes meander back to Jim’s face and finds him blushing. It’s a light sheen of pink that covers his cheeks and the tips of his ears, and Leonard really has to admit that it’s a damn good look on him.

“Hi,” Jim whispers into the space between their bodies with a small shy smile on his face. That jolts Leonard out of his thoughts and brings a small returning smile to his lips. 

“Hey, Darlin’,” Leonard whispers back. The endearment makes Jim blush about two shades darker, and Leonard’s smile widens at the reaction. “Ya ready to go?”

Jim nods and Leonard moves back so that Jim can move out of the doorway. The door swishes shut lightly behind him and Jim shoves his hands into his pockets. Leonard extends his bent arm and looks pointedly at Jim, and Jim looks at the arm in puzzlement before his eyes widen and his blush deepens. He drags his hand out of his pocket, wipes the sweaty palm on his thigh and places it lightly on Leonard’s arm, just above the elbow. Leonard snakes his other hand to lightly lay on top of Jim’s and he smiles reassuringly at Jim, because Jim looks kind of like he wants to bolt.

They make their way to the restaurant and talk about their days and what they have planned for the rest of the week. It’s their normal conversation, and it makes Jim feel a little less like he’s completely out of his depth. Because this was weird. Bones was being weird. Which never happened because even though Bones was, like, thirty, he acted as though he was old and set in his ways. And these were decidedly not Bones‘ ways. But Bones never walked anywhere arm and arm with anyone. He never held doors open and he most certainly never pulled out Jim’s chair. Ever. So yeah, Jim was a little out of his depth, because when he said that he would go out on a date with Bones, he had no idea that the man would full on woo him, with romantic candlelit dinners. 

Leonard was watching Jim fidget, his mind probably going warp factor five trying to understand what the hell was going on with his friend, and really, Leonard couldn’t blame him. Of course Jim was nervous, it was his first date. Ever. Which was odd in and of itself, but Jim had never seen Leonard try to woo someone. It was how dating was done in the South, though, and so that was what Leonard did. 

That wasn’t to say that he wasn’t nervous. He held his posture straight, he sprinkled the conversation with compliments when he saw an opening and, yeah, pulling out Jim’s chair might have been a little much. But he wanted it to be perfect. Because it was Jim. And this was a first for him. And he needed it to be perfect. Because he needed to show Jim how much he cared for the man. Because he loved Jim. And Jim loved him.

Wait.

Jim loved him. 

Jim loved him when he was at his best: top of the class in Starfleet Medical, clean shaven and alert, attentive, in his element. He could see the pride in Jim’s face when he had done something amazing and wonderful and all Jim really wanted to do was kiss him.

But, Jim had also seen him at his worst: way too deep into bottle after bottle of whiskey on the anniversary of his Daddy’s death, on his daughter’s birthday after Jocelyn let them talk, after flight sims and after he’d lost patients. Jim had seen him at his worst and been right there beside him, holding out a hand to get him back up on his feet. Because Jim loved him. And really, if anything was going to change that between them, it would have been one of those moments. 

“What are we doin’? Why the hell are we actin‘ like this?” Leonard asked him and Jim stopped the explanation that he was giving about the merits of his next tactics class to stare at Leonard in befuddlement. “You’re still my best friend, just with the added perk of gettin‘ you naked later.” Leonard finished and Jim paused to process that. Jim smiled, then. A real, full smile that made his eyes crinkle at the sides and outshone every candle in the room. 

“Well yeah, Bones, that was the plan,” Jim answered him with a wiggle of his eyebrows and a flick of his tongue over his bottom lip.

Leonard shook his head and stopped caring about whether or not tonight was perfect according to the Southern standards of wooing. Because Jim wasn’t a damsel from the South. There was no need to woo. He loved Jim, and more importantly, Jim already loved him. It would be perfect for them no matter how the night went, because they were together. 

So they stopped acting like the wrong words would tear down the building, and they focused on each other. They talked about everything and nothing and all of the in between. They spent hours together, first at the restaurant and then walking along the beach of the bay, just reveling in the fact that they were together. That out of all of the billions of people that were in the universe, they found that one person that really got the other. And that was special. 

That was perfect.


End file.
